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Davis upbeat after hurting knee, to have MRI

Slugger exits in fifth inning Friday night after running out grounder

5/3/13: Chris Davis comes up limping after an apparent injury while running down the first-base line on a groundout in the fifth inning

By Brittany Ghiroli
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MLB.com |

ANAHEIM -- Orioles first baseman Chris Davis left Friday night's game against the Angels in the top of the fifth inning with a right knee injury and he will undergo an MRI exam on Saturday morning.

"My knee kind of buckled," said Davis, who landed awkwardly on the first-base bag while running full-bore down the line trying to beat out a ground ball. "Felt a tingling in my foot, thought I could walk it off. Went down the stairs, tried to go down the stairs, couldn't go down the stairs.

"We'll see how it goes. Everything was intact. ... Hopefully, it will just be a couple days."

Davis, the reigning American League Player of the Month, walked gingerly to the dugout and thought he could perhaps walk off the injury. But he couldn't put any pressure on his right leg, hobbling down the steps and into the tunnel under the supervision of assistant athletic trainer Brian Ebel.

Although further examination is needed, a significant injury to the starting first baseman would be a serious hit to the Orioles. Davis, 27, entered the game batting .337 with nine homers and 29 RBIs. He finished April leading the league in slugging percentage (.728) and total bases (67) and was fourth with a .348 batting average and fifth with a .442 on-base percentage.

Asked about the potential of being sidelined for an extended period of time, Davis said: "You know, I'm not going to think of it that way. I'm going to think of it as a little bump in the road. Like I said, it'll just be a few days and get back out there."

"Of course he is [upbeat]," manager Buck Showalter said. "I'm sharing his optimism, but it's part of it. We lost some good players last year. We don't have anything imminent. The doctor looked at it. I'm not going to play medical here until we can get our arms around the MRI, we'll wait to pass judgment.

"Nobody feels sorry for us. I guarantee you, you go in that clubhouse, it's part of this job description and playing 162 games, we have 132 games left, so we'll have other things. Last thing the players are going to read from me is that. I look at it as an opportunity for us to bring some things we bring to offset some things. But Chris is a good player. We'd rather have him on the field."

Davis, who has no history of right knee issues, was replaced at first base by Ryan Flaherty and was wearing a knee brace when he talked to reporters.

"I think it's just something that when I hit the bag I kind of veered to the right a little bit," Davis said after watching the replay. "Lesson learned, go right through the bag. It sounds so elementary now. But, like I said, hopefully it will just be a few days."